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Source: Air Transport Association and World Bank. Between 1950 and 2020, air passenger and freight traffic grew systematically faster than gross world product (or GDP) as the unique ability of air transportation to collapse space and time drew more traffic. Correlation analysis reveals strong associations between air transport activity and

Source: Airlines for America. IATA. Air transportation has experienced a high growth rate since the 1970s, with air freight growing at a rate similar to that of passengers. The growth of air traffic has also been characterized by several setbacks linked with recessions (1973-1975; 1980-1984; 1990-1991; Asian Crisis of 1997;

Source: Informa Markets. Note: Direct lines may not represent actual flight paths. Although air transportation is commonly believed to mostly service long-distance markets, the business thrives at servicing short-haul markets of less than 1,000 km; less than 2 hours of flight time. The world’s busiest air route is between Seoul

Source: Airlines. Note: Paths are approximate. The Boeing 747-400, introduced in 1989, made possible ultra-long-range routes like New York / Hong Kong, though often at the cost of a reduced payload. Two airliners, the A340-500 and the Boeing 777-200LR, have made possible even longer routes since their introduction in 2004

Source: Adapted from “Concorde Chronology“. The Concorde represents the only supersonic commercial service to be implemented in 1976 and was abandoned in 2003 after close to 30 years of operations. Interestingly, the four cities with regular Concorde service throughout its lifetime were London and Paris – the hubs for the

Aircraft First Commercial Service Speed (km/hr) Maximum Range at Full Payload (km) Seating Capacity Douglas DC-3 1935 346 563 30 Lockheed L-649 Constellation 1943 560 8,200 95 Douglas DC-7 1953 555 5,810 52 Boeing 707-100 1958 897 6,820 110 Boeing 727-100 1963 870 5,000 134 Boeing 737-200 1967 780 3,500

Source: based on data available from “Orders and Deliveries”, www.boeing.com. The deliveries of 747s are characterized by cycles representing the introduction of a new variant. Although the 747 was initially designed primarily for the transatlantic market (the 747-100 had a range of about 9,500 km), it ultimately became the definitive

Source: expanded from Bowen, J. (2004) “World-Shapers: The Geographical Implications of Several Influential Jet Aircraft”, paper presented at the 2004 Conference of the American Association of Geographers. Note: In 2012 dollars. Roundtrip. The New York – London air route is heavily traveled and competitive. Airfares along that route had substantially

Note: Assume constant travel time and does not take account of prevailing winds and technical stops (refueling, crew change). The commercial jet engine, introduced at the end of the 1950s, revolutionized international air transportation. With a piston engine, an airplane leaving New York can service North American destinations within 10

Source: adapted from B. Graham (1995) Geography of Air Transport, Chichester: Wiley. Due to range limitations, the first international air routes were composed of a series of refueling stages. Crossing the comparatively calm and narrow South Atlantic was much easier than transiting the North Atlantic. Although the world’s most powerful